Sonic Survivor
by Chronos the Cat
Summary: Sonic and many of his friends and enemies must compete in a "Survivor" style reality show.


Author's note: No, I didn't abandon Tenchi and Chrono to write this—I wrote this a few months back, but forgot about it. It was pretty fun to write, though, so I'll probably get back to it soon… **after** I finish up another chapter each of Tenchi, Chrono, and possibly my original story, "Heroes of Destiny".

Now, on with the show…

Eight males… eight females… eight robots… seven zones… and only one…

**

**

Sonic Survivor!

By Chronos

Timeline note: As usual for my Sonic fanfics, this takes place in the Archie Sonicverse. This one begins during issue 123, in place of "The Last Robian", and does not return to Archie continuity. 

Prelude:

_Knothole Kingdom:_

Sonic tapped his foot to the music, as Mina danced across the stage, singing with the voice of an angel.

"I still can't believe how good she is," Sally commented, putting her arm around Sonic.

Tails, Rotor, Antoine, and Bunnie all stood nearby in the crowd, watching Mina's latest performance. 

"Yes, she iz quite ze talent, yes? And also, I am liking her sense of style very much," Antoine commented, for Mina had chosen to wear her best dress to this concert.

"Y'all seem ta be enjoyin' her sense of style a little bit too much, if ya ask me, Antoine," Bunnie said sourly.

Antoine quickly explained, in a panicked voice, "It is not like zat at all, Bunnie! I waz just… imagining what you would look like in zat dress."

"Really," Bunnie commented suspiciously.

Loosing his nerve, Antoine fell to his knees in front of Bunnie, begging for mercy. "Please forgive me, ma cheri! You know you are the only one for me!"

Bunnie laughed. "Oh, all right, I forgive ya, sugar. Get up off that dirty ol' ground." As he did so, blind admiration in his eyes, Bunnie put her flesh-and-blood hand on his shoulder, and added, "Tell ya' what, maybe ah'll borrow that dress from Mina, or get one similar."

"Zat would be… very nice."

Sonic shook his head and chuckled. "Check out the love-birds over there."

Sally smiled at him. "Yeah… So, what do you think? Should I get a dress like that too?"

"Huh? What? Why?"

"Well, you seem to like it, too."

"Well, I can't deny that it's pretty, but you're pretty just the way you are. Besides, why would I want you to cover up that beautiful body of yours."

Sally blushed.

Thousands of miles away, on Angel Island, the Chaotix had gathered at Knuckles' grave. Mighty, Vector, Espio, and Julie-Su were all there, as were sometimes-Chaotix Archimedes and Ray. 

"I can't believe someone would do this!" Mighty said angrily, looking down into the hole where Knuckles' gravestone had stood. At the bottom of the pit were the remains of Knuckles' coffin—broken and empty.

"Whoever did this to my main man, he's gonna pay," Vector vowed.

Julie-Su was too shocked to speak, and Espio and Ray had nothing to say.

Archimedes studied the hole intently. "There's something very strange about this hole…"

"It ain't strange, it's sick!" Vector disagreed.

"No, I'm serious. I mean, look at how smooth the edges are… not even a trace of shovel marks."

Espio walked over and took a look for himself. "You're right. Who ever did this wasn't your typical grave robber…"

Julie-Su burst out, "How can you just stand there studying that… hole! We should be out finding whoever's responsible!"

"Yeah," Vector agreed.

Archimedes turned to them and asked, "And how do you expect us to find them, if we don't gather any clues here?"

"Well, I…" Julie-Su said uncertainly.

Vector said, "Come on don't give us that. We can… I mean, obviously… if we… well, maybe Remington…?" Vector trailed off, then folded his arm and said testily, "Okay, fine, we'll do it your way. Just be quick about it!"

"Of course. Now, Espio," Archimedes said, as he turned back to the hole. But there was no sign of the chameleon. "Espio? Are you here? There's no need to be in camouflage mode…. Espio?" Confounded, Archimedes started to turn around again. "Guys, did any of you see where Espio…" Archimedes stopped mid-sentence. Now, there was no sign of any of the others, either.

He stood there for a few moments, and blinked. "This is a new one…"

"Charmy, we're going to a fancy restaurant—couldn't you have dressed up at all?"

"Huh? But Saffron, I'm wearing my royal cape, and boots instead of sneakers…"

"Well, at least your sneakers look nice—those boots are work boots! And that cape isn't all that fancy, either! You must have _some_ fancy clothes—you are a prince after all."

"Well, yeah, but all my really fancy stuff is uncomfortable…"

"And you think this dress is…? We've all got to make sacrifices to uphold the dignity of the nobility…"

A few moments later, the butler stepped in. "Your highness; mistress Saffron, are you ready to go?" But there was no response—and no sign of the two. 

"That was great, Mina!" Sally complimented Mina backstage, after the performance. 

"Yeah," Sonic agreed, "Way past cool!"

"Thanks, guys," Mina said shyly, blushing a bit.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. The next thing they knew, Sonic, Sally, Mina, Tails, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor were picking themselves up off the ground. They weren't backstage anymore—in fact, they didn't seem to even be on Mobius anymore. 

The ground beneath them was covered in grass, but several yards away, that ended, and a wall of glass swept up overhead and all around, trapping them in a giant glass dome. Outside the dome, was a mechanical structure on a vast scale, and several large windows gave a view of the stars…

They were not alone in the dome, either. Also there were Vector, Mighty, Espio, Julie-Su, Ray, Charmy, Saffron, and the Dark Legion second-in-command, Kommisar.

Mighty's face lighted up at the sight of the new arrivals. "Sonic! Great to see you!" He rushed over and gave Sonic a bear hug.

"Yeah, same to you; but where the heck are we? And how did we get here?"

"I don't know… It sounds crazy, but I think we've all been abducted by aliens…"

"Not **again**!"

Mina put her hands on her hips. "Abducted by aliens? Come on!"

Mighty stared at her, entranced by her beauty. "W-wow. Who's this, Sonic?"

"Huh? Oh, that's my friend Mina Mongoose. She's almost as fast as me, and she's an awesome singer."

Mighty walked over to her. "I'm Mighty. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, barely managing to get the words out of his mouth.

Mina took a step back and said uncertainly, "Uh, hi."

Just then, with a quick flash of light, three more Mobians appeared in the domed field: Amy, Rosie, and Dulcy. Along with them came the Overlander girl, Hope.

About five minutes later, Geoffrey, Hershey, Elias, and Meg were all transported to the dome. Ten minutes after that, Rogue found herself there, and twenty minutes after **that**, Fiona the Fox was also relocated. 

Finally, after another ten minutes, some very unwelcome guests appeared: Robotnik, Snively, a Shadowbot, and another imposing robot, about the same size as the Shadowbot, but red, with long, clawed fingers.

"Sonic! What have you done? How did you bring us here?"

"Me?! Why would I want to bring you anywhere? Besides, I would have expected you to be behind a scheme like this."

"Er… Never mind that! This time you're finished, hedgehog! Omega, destroy Sonic!"

The big red robot replied, "Acknowledged, master." It began heading in Sonic's direction, deliberately, but not as slow as one might think, thanks to its' relatively long legs. 

"This is the best you can do, Eggman? Pathetic." Sonic ran to the bot and began racing around it, taunting the bot. 

But the bot shot out one arm, sending Sonic flying several yards, finally tearing up the grass where he landed.

Robotnik laughed. "Not so cocky now, eh Hedgehog?"

Sitting up slowly, Sonic croaked, "I'm only warming up, bot-head."

Then Sonic's eyes widened. Omega had used a pair of rocket boosters to speed over to where Sonic lay. Before Sonic could get to his feet, the bot raised it's arm, and prepared to skewer Sonic with its' claws.

"Enough!" A booming voice resounded through the chamber. Even Omega stopped what it was doing to look up. Towering above them outside the dome was what appeared to be a gigantic, silver-blue, humanoid robot.

"Car-heem…" Sonic whispered.

Sally stepped forward. "Car-heem, what is the meaning of this? I thought you had decided to stop collecting sentient beings."

The booming voice responded, "Car-heem? No, you must have me confused with another of my race. I am Shreh-daead, of the planet Weet."

Sonic had gotten up and stepped away from Omega as this went on, now he spoke up. "Shreh-daead Weet, huh? Well, if you insist on keeping us captive, you'll learn the same lesson Car-heem learnt—We Mobians just don't make good pets. You'd be better off sending us home right now."

Shreh-daead laughed. "Pets? Who said anything about pets? I'm not here to collect you—I'm just an intergalactic transporter. My clients hired me to transport you to the planet Yammano, where you are to participate in a contest they've cooked up."

Sonic and Sally looked at each other, and Robotnik's eyes widened. 

Mighty was the first to voice the question on everybody's mind. "Contest? What sort of contest?"

"I'm not at liberty to say. But rest assured, the winner shall be well rewarded for his, her, or its' efforts.

"Now, this trip will only take a day or so at top FTL cruising speed, so I really don't want to waste energy by putting you in suspended animation; but I will, if you continue to fight amongst yourselves. I'm being paid to bring _all _of you, alive, so I can't have you killing each other. Is that understood?"

Most of the Mobians nodded or said they understood, though some did it grudgingly. Robotnik even said it in an overly pleasant voice, as if he were a sweet little child. Snively looked at Robotnik dubiously, then decided he might as well play along.

As the day passed by, the group discussed why this particular selection of Mobian inhabitants might have been chosen, who wanted them, and what the competition might be. 

The robots, of course, added nothing to the conversation, and not liking "furries", Robotnik listened in from a distance. 

After a short while, Kommisar grew tired of all this clueless guesswork, and went over to talk with Robotnik. It turned out they had a lot in common—a thirst for power, a love of technology, and no intention of simply playing along with these aliens.

…By the morning of the next day, the Mobians were no closer to determining any answers, nor were Robotnik and Kommisar any closer to escaping. 

Robotnik and Kommisar were discussing the possibility of dismantling the two robots and using them to construct some device with which to break through the "glass" of the dome, when the sound of the engine quieted, the stars stopped moving, and part of a planet came into the field of view of the windows.

Soon Shreh-daead stepped in. "Didn't take as long as I thought—wasn't too much traffic on the major space-lanes, so I didn't have to slow down at all." He looked at the dome for a few moments, then said, "Good, you're all still here, and in perfect health. All right then, time to transport you over." He stepped back out, and moments later, there was a flash of light, and they all found themselves in a new place.

There was no dome this time—they were in another metal-walled room, presumably part of a space ship. On a platform above them stood another alien. This one was no taller than your average Mobian, and even had similar proportions—thin legs and arms, a large head compared to the body, and extremely large eyes. However, these eyes were almond shaped, and a solid black, in direct contrast to the alien's pale gray skin.

"Greetings, sentients of Mobius. I am Exthala-Norket ol'Torrvin Broo; designated All-purpose 'Meb' bio-form 9990X by the D'Nthor breeding facility."

"What a mouthful," Sonic commented.  
"You may call me Exthala-Norket. I am a representative of the Entropy Incorporated entertainment company.

"…You are no doubt wondering what you are doing here. That shall be explained in a moment. But first, I would like to introduce you to several bio-forms and mecha-forms from your world, that we have taken the liberty of repairing. You may find some of them… familiar."

Julie-Su whispered, "They… couldn't have!" Even she wasn't sure whether to feel hope or disgust at the idea that had occurred to her…

The first arrivals were all robots—familiar robots: Crabmeat, Scratch, Grounder, Coconuts, a Swatbot, a Combot, Buzzbomber… then a new incarnation of Silver Sonic, and the "Metal Sonic" once known as Mecha Sonic.

Tails' eyes widened, recognizing the latter robot. "Sonic, it's…"

"I know! But I thought he was destroyed in that volcano."

Metal Sonic looked down at itself. "As did I… if would seem someone repaired me."

Before the conversation could continue, five more robots appeared, all of which produced strong reactions… Crocbot, with a new humanoid body… an android that looked like Sally, except for the purple vest… another android, this one looking like a younger version of Fiona… and Amy Rose's old friend, E-102 Gamma.

"Gamma!" Amy cried out in joy, and ran over to give the bot a hug. "You were so damaged last time I saw you… I was so worried!"

"Hello… friend."

Meanwhile, Fiona stared at her counterpart, speechless.

Sally, on the other hand, was annoyed. "You put that Automaton back together?! Why?!"

The alien's mouth turned upward a little bit, and it's eyes narrowed slightly, giving the faintest impression of a smile. "We thought it would be… interesting."

The Automaton Sally rolled its eyes. "Interesting. I was brought back to life because it would be 'interesting'." It shook its' head at the ridiculousness of this.

Finally, Fiona spoke. "Well, I guess now I know what happened to that duplicate Robotnik made of me… and it looks like I wasn't the only one to have the honor of being impersonated…"

Sonic, Geoffrey, and Hershey, meanwhile, greeted Heavy.

"So, whose side you on, this time, mate?"

"I assure you, I am no longer under Robotnik's control, if that is what you mean."

Hershey asked, "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Heavy paused, then replied. "I have no way to prove my loyalty to the Acorn Kingdom at present, so I shall not attempt to. Perhaps my actions shall be more informative."

Sonic nodded. "Sounds good to me. By the way, sorry about destroying you, before…"

Heavy held up its' hand. "No need to apologize. I am grateful to you; if you had not interfered, many lives would have been lost."

Everyone had to stop what they were doing at this point, as another set of four individuals arrived. This time they were all flesh-and-blood. This fact, however, was quite shocking, in-and-of itself, considering who they were…

Lupe… Liza Chameleon… Shadow the Hedgehog… and Knuckles the Echidna.

Julie-Su took a step back, her eyes filled with confusion. 

Vector said, "No way! This… this just ain't right!"

Mighty had a far different response. "Knuuuukleeees!!!" He ran to the red echidna, and gave him a hug so tight it made his eyes bulge out. "You'realiveyou'realiveyou'realive! You're alive!"

As Mighty loosened his grip a bit, and Knuckles was able to take a breath, he responded, "Yeah, so it seems… I just wish I knew how. Last thing I remember, I was with the Chaos Force, learning about my destiny as a higher being. Then I feel this weird jerk, everything goes dark, and next thing I know, I wake up here!"

Vector walked up to Knuckles and studied him suspiciously. "So, you're real, then?" He poked Knuckles, just to make sure he wasn't a ghost.

Knuckles chuckled a bit at this. "Yes, Vector, I'm real."

Then, looking away from his two admirers, he saw Julie-Su. Their eyes met, and Julie-Su knew in an instant that this was a good thing. Knuckles pushed the others aside, and walked over to her. Embracing her tenderly, he told her, "I missed you, Julie-Su."

She pushed herself into the hug, and said back, "I missed you, too."

Charmy was buzzing around the two of them, waiting for a chance to welcome Knuckles back, when there was another flash of light, and someone else arrived. This time it was just one individual… but it might as well have been an entire army, given the shocked and fearful response of most of those who looked at them. The one, the only, Doctor Julian Ivo "Robotnik" Kintobor…

"Wha… I'm alive again? Interesting. And who do I have to thank this time?"

"That would be me, Overlander," the alien said. Ivo Robotnik looked up at the creature. "I am Exthala-Norket ol'Torrvin Broo; designated All-purpose "Meb" bio-form, number 9990X, by the D'Nthor breeding facility. You may call me Exthala-Norket. I am a representative of Entropy Incorporated, an intergalactic entertainment company."

"I was resurrected by an… entertainment company?!"

The alien nodded. "Of course. The intergalactic community has found your battles with the Freedom Fighters quite entertaining. We therefore felt that our fans would appreciate your return."

"I… see…"

Sonic couldn't believe his ears. "What gives you the right to play around with us like this? To abduct us, to bring back the evilest guy to ever walk the face of Mobius… and it sounded like you were saying you spy on us too!"

"What gives us the right to do this, Sonic Hedgehog? Our existence gives us the right… for nothing in this universe has yet to be able to take away that right. You live in a world of fairness, and justice, where all Furries are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights. We Meb do not. We believe that all sentients have the right to attempt anything they please, while governments and other organizations have the right to attempt to stop those activities they find disruptive. So you see, while your society might find someone like me 'evil', in my society, I am simply considered a risk taker…"

Robotnik smiled. "I like his philosophy." 

"Actually, I'm not male. I'm neuter. An 'it' if you will, much like your robots."

"Fascinating," Robotnik said, in a dry voice that implied he didn't really feel that way.

"Now, it is time to explain why we have had you brought here."

"This oughtta be good," Sonic said dryly.

"All of you shall be participating in a game. A 'reality' game, as we at Entropy call it. You shall be divided into four groups, and each group deposited on a different part of the planet we are orbiting above. It shall be up to you to find a way to survive. Those that manage this for a week shall be brought together for a competition, a 'challenge'. The team that wins the challenge will receive a reward, while the team that looses shall have to vote one member out of their team. That individual will transported up to this Space Station, where they shall be placed in suspended animation until the end of the game.

"When the players have been whittled down to eight individuals, the challenges shall become individual challenges, the prize of each immunity from expulsion. Finally, when only two remain, the frozen players shall be reawakened to cast the final vote and determine the winner. And too the winner, we shall give any prize within our power to give, up to and including complete control of Mobius." It turned its' head, apparently looking at the two Robotniks, and then the Freedom Fighters. "This, of course, shall be a perfect opportunity to resolve the conflict plaguing your world." Its' blank-eyed stare then seemed to turn to rest on each of the others for a moment. "Or perhaps you have other desires… safety… love… money. Whatever you desire, it can be yours—all you have to do is outwit, outplay, and outlast the other players."

Sonic was flabbergasted. "This is crazy!"

Bunnie pointed out, "That's true, Sugar-hog, but on the other hand, it would be a perfect chance to take back our world, permanently."

The two Robotniks each rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Rogue said eagerly, "You could get me a huge hoard of jewels, right?"

"Of course. As many as you'd like."

Her eyes filled with a lust-like greed. "Count me in!"

Knuckles folded his arms. "Yeah, well count me out. I'm not going to perform for your amusement."

"Does the fact that we are responsible for your renewed life change your point of view at all?"

"Not really, no."

Sally stepped forward. "We Freedom Fighters also will not be participating. We shall not rest the fate of Mobius on a game."

One of the alien's eyes widened, in a manner that suggested it would be raising its' eyebrow, if it had any. "I understand your reluctance, Princess Sally, but I do not recall implying you had any choice in the matter."

The group only had time to exchange glances, before there was another flash of light, and they all vanished. Only Exthala remained.

It turned to the camera, and proclaimed, "Let the games begin!" 


End file.
